An analysis of the body language of Eric Paddock and claims of a “second shooter” by a verified Facebook page with hundreds of thousands of followers were just two of several conspiracy theories to go viral in the wake of the Mandalay Bay shooting.

Eric Paddock spoke to the media on October 2 about his brother. A woman called Mandy Bombard, who runs Bombard’s Body Language, posted what purported to be an analysis of Eric Paddock’s body language. In it, the narrator claims to be able to discern that Eric Paddock was lying or dissembling. The narrator also claims his body language shows Eric Paddock did not like his brother.

After making a number of vague claims about Eric Paddock being deceitful or dishonest, she ends the video by saying, “Maybe, just maybe, he supported what his brother did.”

Bombard’s video was viewed more than 275,000 times by Friday, October 6, and Bombard’s channel has over 140,000 subscribers, despite regularly sharing conspiracy theories related to current news events. Bombard posted links to the video on Twitter, Facebook, Gab (a right-wing alternative to Twitter), and BitChute, a site favored by right-wing users online as a possible alternative to YouTube.

Verified by Facebook

The People’s Voice, meanwhile, a verified Facebook page with hundreds of thousands of followers, shared conspiracy videos claiming a “second shooter,” and an “FBI cover-up” in the case.

The video above, from The People’s Voice, had almost four million views at the time of writing. It claims to show evidence of a “second shooter,” citing a flashing light seen. A number of videos seen by Storyful, however, show similar flashing patterns around the Mandalay Bay hotel and they are in no way connected to gunfire. Las Vegas Police debunked rumors of a second shooter.

‘False flag’

As well as the conspiracy related to Eric Paddock’s body language, a number of other theories were proffered to the effect that the shooting was a false-flag operation, and videos related to these theories garnered millions of views cumulatively on Facebook and YouTube. The YouTube video below, from a channel with 78,000 subscribers, was viewed almost 1.5 million times by Friday, October 6.

This video, from a user with more than 190,000 subscribers, had been viewed more than 340,000 times at the time of writing.

Both Facebook and Google have faced criticism for hosting misleading and fake reports on the Las Vegas mass shooting, and allowing such material to gain significant reach. In response, a Google spokesman told the New York Times: “This should not have appeared for any queries, and we’ll continue to make algorithmic improvements to prevent this from happening in the future.” A Facebook spokesman, meanwhile, in the same New York Times article, was quoted as saying: “We are working to fix the issue that allowed this to happen in the first place and deeply regret the confusion this caused.”